“Forose?”
“Iwaofmyownworldbatoherown。IthoughtIwastakiohero>
“Howcameshetobeinyourworld,SonofAdam?”
“By—byMagic。”
TheLionsaidnothingandDigorykhehadnottoldenough。
“ItwasmyUn,”hesaid。“Hesentusoutofourigs,atleastIhadtogobecausehesentPollyfirst,ahelacecalleddshejustheldontouswhen—”
“YoumettheWitch?”saidAsianinalowvoicewhichhadthethreatofagrowlinit。
“Shewokeup,”saidDigorywretdthen,ture,“Imean,Iwokeher。BecauseIwaoknoouldhappenifIstruckabell。Pollydidn'twantto。Itwasn'therfault。I—Ifoughther。IknowIshouldn'thave。IthinkIwasabitehewritihebell。”
“Doyou?”askedAsian;stillspeakingverylo。
“No,”saidDigory。“IseenowIwasn't。Iretending。”
Thereause。AndDigorywasthinkiime,“I'vesp。There'singanythingforMothernow。”
&heLionspokeagain,itwasnottoDigory。
“Yousee,friehatbeforethenew,waveyouissevenhoursold,aforceofevilhasalreadye;wakedandbroughthitherbythissonofAdam。”TheBeasts,evenStrawberry,allturheireyesonDigorytillhefeltthathewishedthegroundhimup。“Butdodown,”saidAslan,stillspeakis。“Evilwilleofthatevil,butitisstillalongwayoff,andIwillseetoitthattheohemeaakesuchorderthatformanyhuhisshallbeamerrylandinamerryworld。AndasAdam'sraetheharm,Adam'sraceshallhelptohealit。Drawnear,youothertwo。”
&wordswerespokentoPollyandtheCabbywhohadnoolly,alleyesandmouth,wasstaringatAslanandholdingtheCabby'shaly。TheCabbygaveoheLion,andtookoffhisbowlerhat:seenhimwithoutit。Whenitwasoff,helookedyoungerandnidmorelikeaanandlesslikeaLondon。
“Son,”saidAslantotheCabby。“Ihaveknownyoulong。Doyouknowme?”
“Well,no,sir,”saidtheCabby。“Leastways,notinanordinarymannerofspeakiIfeelsomehow,ifImaymakesofree,as'owwe'vemetbefore。”
“Itiswell,”saidtheLion。“Youkhanyouthinkyouknow,andyoushalllivetok。Howdoesthislandpleaseyou?”
“It'safairtreat,sir,”saidtheCabby。
“Wouldyouliketolivehereal>
“Wellyouseesir,I'mamarriedman,”saidtheCabby。“Ifmywifewashereherofuswouldeverwanttogobadon,Ire。We'rebothtryfolksreally。”
Aslanthrewuphisshaggyhead,openedhismouth,andutteredaloe;notveryloud,butfullofpower。Polly'sheartjumpedinherbodywhe。Shefeltsurethatitwasadthatanyocallwouldwaand(what'smore)wouldbeabletoobeyit,howevermanyworldsaween。Andso,thoughshewasfilledwithworeallyastonishedorshoallofasuddenayoungwoman,withakifacesteppedoutofoodbesideher。PollykowastheCabby'swife,fetchedoutofourworldnotbyanytiresomemagigs,butquickly,simplyalyasabirdfliestoitsheyoungarehemiddleofawashingday,forsheron,hersleeveswererolleduptotheelbow,andtheresudsonherhands。Ifshehadhadtimetoputoodclothes(herbesthathadimitatio)shewouldhavelookeddreadful;asitwas,shelookedrathernice。
Ofcourseshethoughtshewasdreaming。Thatwaswhyshedidn'trushacrosstoherhusbandandaskhimwhatohhadhappeh。ButwhenshelookedattheLionshedidn'tfeelquitesosureitwasadream,yetforsomereasoappearthtehenshedroppedalittlehalfcurtsey,assirlsstillkodointhosedays。Afterthat,sheutherhandintheCabby'sandstrouleshyly。
“My,”saidAslan,fixihofthem,“youaretobethefirstKingandQueenofNarnia。”
Theedhismouthinasto,andhiswifeturnedveryred。
“Youshallruleahesecreatures,anddojusti,ahemfromtheirenemieswhenenemiesarise。Andenemieswillarise,forthereisathisworld。”
TheCabbyswallowedhardtwoorthreetimesahroat。
“Beggingyourpardon,sir,”hesaid,“andthankingyouverymusure(whichmyMissusdoesthesame)butIain'tnosortofachapforajoblikethat。Inever'admucheddy,yousee。”
“Well,”saidAslan,“youuseaspadeandaploughaoftheearth?”
“Yes,sir,Icoulddoabitofthatsbroughtuptoit,like。”
“yourulethesecreatureskindlyandfairly,rememberingthattheyarehedumbbeastsoftheworldyouwerebornin,butTalkisas?”
&,sir,”repliedtheCabby。“I'dtrytodothesquarethingbythemall。”
“Andwouldyupyrahesame?”
“It'dbeuptometotry,sir。I'ddomybest:wouldn'twe,Nellie?”
“Andyouwouldn'thavefavouriteseitheramongyourownohercreaturesorletanyholdanotherunderoruseithardly?”
“Inevercouldabidesugson,sir,andthat'sthetruth。I'dgive'emwhatforifIatit,”saidtheCabby。(Allthroughthisversationhisvoiceerandricher。Moreliketheusthavehadasaboyahesharp,quickvoiceofaey。)
“Andifenemiessttheland(forenemieswillarise)andthereouldyoubethefirstinthedthelasti?”
“Well,sir,”saidtheCabbyveryslodolyknowtillhe'sbeentried。IdaresayImightturnouteversuchasoft'un。Neverdidnofightihmyfists。I'dtry—thatis,I'opeI'dtry—todomybit。”
“Then,”saidAslan,,“YouwillhavedoaKingshoulddo。Yourwillbeheldpresently。Andyouandyrandshallbeblessed,andsomewillbeKingsofNarnia,andotherswillbeKingsofArdwhichliesyoheSouthernMountains。Andyou,littleDaughter(hereheturoPolly)arewele。HaveyiventheBoyfortheviolencehedidyouintheHallofImagesiepalaceofaccursed?”
“Yes,Aslan,we'vemadeitup,”saidPolly。
“Thatiswell,”saidAslan。“AndnowfortheBoyhimself。”